Mad as the Mist and Snow - it has been a fortnight of frustrations, form filling, of mist and fog and false starts. I am not as far along as I would like to be. I growl and sigh and panic - the Wolf Moon of January fills up, glows and begins to recede again. There may not have been any snow, just rain, howling gales, frosts, and I am cross and out of sorts, the way forward has definitely been shrouded in thick fog!Our road trip to see the Northern Lights was unsuccessful - though we returned home marvelling at the moon and it's cold silver beauty.I have been laid low by a virus and have had to slow down, whilst there are ideas to be captured, lights to be chased and music to be danced to. A plan is needed - a cunning one - a plan to get back on track, catch up - or is it? In a strange way things seem to be ticking over on their own:I have had time to read - from my tower of lovely books: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson, The Owl Service by Alan Garner, The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon. I swear something bad happens to my brain when I do not have time to send it off into the world of a book for a while.My postcard painting 'Bad Moon Rising' has finally reached Florida, 7 weeks in transit, I guess it took the scenic route. All the art from the Twitter Art Exhibition is being sold in aid of The Centre for Contemporary Dance, in Orlando, for special needs dance classes, each piece will be sold for $35. Can you remember the last time you danced?The small stones (short pieces of observational writing) January Challenge continues, I am posting here, I have been feeling rusty and flat, but still, one of my small stones from last year - above, beneath the picture - has been published in A Handful of Stones Blogzine.On my windowsill - Cado the seedling from my avocado stone is thriving with several sets of leaves, my Hyacinth bulb has finally blossomed - beautiful white, and our pepper seeds have sprouted into seedlings.Seeds sown are germinating, paintings painted are finding their own way, stones written are returning to remind me that I can write. Things ARE ticking over. Now, pass me my next book.......

HAT STATUS: Still seeking a story telling hat - suggestions so far: A Victorian Smoking/Leisure Cap, A Sherlockian Hat, and a rather odd looking knitted Koala Hat.PAINTING STATUS: Daily Paintings only. Red painting for Redroom settling into itself, I shall return to it soon.WRITING STATUS: The January Challenge is still on - posting here. My local writing group - the Deeside Writers - reconvenes next week - have my piece written and ready to go.READING STATUS: YES!COFFEE STATUS: A tiny piece of luxury at home - Lebanese ground coffee, from the Algerian Coffee Store, made in our Italian stove top Moka potF. E. Clark, 19th January, 2014.

Cry Me a River - there has been very little time for painting in the past few weeks. Plans have been made, remade, abandoned. Ideas are backing up. Losing fire. Projects have flown by like exotic birds - too high to reach, but close enough to wonder at. No one is going to stop the world for me and make sure I have time to do what I need to do - so - cry me a flaming river - I must do this myself.The tinsel and sparkle of the festive season can seem tarnished and fake, a huge money machine that is out of control. And yet: we took time one night to look for the Geminids meteors and were rewarded with the silent needle of a shooting star falling to earth, we took time to see the Niki de Saint-Phalle exhibition at GOMA in Glasgow, another short piece of my writing was published in A Handful of Stones Blogzine, and I now have my trading partner for January 2014 - the Irish band - Redroom, with whom I look forward to swapping some work. ALL tiny sparks amidst the chaos.This week's picture is of 'Grande Tete', a sculpture by French artist Niki de Saint-Phalle, whose work I first saw in Paris in the Stravinsky Fountain - by the Centre Pompidou. GOMA in Glasgow have an exhibition of her work on until the 16th February, 2014 - really worth a visit. We see the 18 year old Niki as a model on the cover on Life magazine in 1949, before she began her creating work - she had another life before her art career. 'Grande Tete' shows the visible and the hidden self - one half - bright, love, life, tears; the other black steel frame with insects and dinosaurs. I very much enjoyed seeing these pieces with their bright colour, larger than life size and layers of meaning - the gallery space gives them room to breathe and be. Niki de Saint-Phalle died in 1982 at 71, her death was tragically caused by lung disease related to using polyester in the making of her work. Hat Status: intermittent furry hat wearing.Painting Status: best not ask.Writing Status: does my blog count?Reading Status: a tower of lovely books is developing.F. E. Clark, 16th December, 2013.

There is a nip in the air today, despite the bright sun. The air seems fresh and clean. The red Rowan berries shine out against the blue sky and harvested fields. A new energy permeates.Transitioning into autumn.Time to recalibrate and plan.(The Rowan Tree is said to provide protection - from black witches)..F. E. Clark, September, 2013